On the cover of Harpers Magazine is Garret Keizer’s article called Turning Away Jesus: Gay rights and the war for the Episcopal Church. Keizer discusses the effect of sexuality battles in the Episcopal Church on our mission and asks questions about whether our attention on these issues helps us ignore other gospel mandates.
Bishop Gene Robinson will preach at St. Mary’s, Putney in London on Sunday July 13 at 6 p.m. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has prohibited Robinson from presiding at the Eucharist, but does not have the canonical authority to prohibit him from preaching, although he attempted to dissuade him from doing so. The invitation was made by the Rev. Giles Fraser.
The Anglican Examiner has begun an on-line discussion and exploration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to their web-site, “Anglicans and other Christians
Students and alumni of a Massachusetts Christian college are struggling to let the voices of the gay and lesbian students of that school be heard.
Politicians in both Iran and the United States have been divisive, disrespectful, and inflammatory in their condemnations of each other, in effect increasing the likelihood of a military confrontation. As one who has travelled twice to Iran and found friendship and shared values with Iranian clerics, I think it’s time for religious leaders in both countries to take the initiative to find ways to seek peaceful solutions to the complex problems that have plagued US-Iranian relations for years.
O Lord; O King, resplendent on the citadel of heaven,
all hail continually;
and of your clemency upon your people still have mercy.
Lord, whom the hosts of cherubim in songs and hymns
with praise continually proclaim,
upon us eternally have mercy.
It may be that the only kind of altruism that truly exists is what economists like to call “impure altruism.” Does this mean that human beings are shallow and selfish — that they only give to a cause when it is attractive to them on some level? Will the future produce some sort of “disaster marketing” movement in which aid agencies learn to appeal to potential contributors?
This spring a certain Christian layperson has been criticized for not exiting his local church when he disagreed with something his pastor preached. With tongue firming in his cheek, Martin Marty offers some useful tips on when you should leave your church.
“Prince Caspian,” which is based on Lewis’ “Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia,” published in 1951, features a few inspired touches, and the four principal child and young-adult actors of the earlier picture — just a little older now — reprise their roles here. Yet the human characters come off as afterthoughts, figures that are moved around clumsily in the thicket of the movie’s sprawling narrative.
Aaolescents who valued power (trying to attain social status by controlling and dominating others) reported more violent behavior than their peers. Teenagers who valued universalism (promoting understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protecting the welfare of all people and nature) and those who valued conformity (limiting actions and urges that might violate social expectations and norms) reported less violent behavior than their peers.